LUTHMANN NOTE: I want Connecticut to explain what happens after the appellate court sends a judge’s work back. Who reviews the errors? Who checks whether they recur? Who tells the families and defendants what went wrong? Larry Noodles has identified three reversals and reported a custody fight involving the judge’s own daughter. That warrants scrutiny, with records doing the talking. Publish the opinions, explain the custody case’s disposition, and identify the legal basis for any restrictions on access. Connecticut cannot demand respect for judicial authority while treating questions about judicial performance as bad manners. The robe works for the public. This piece is “Most Reversed CT Judge,” also available on The Family Court Circus.
CT Judge Angelica Papastavros was in foreclosure on her home in 2020, appointed to the Bench in 2021 by Democrat Governor Ned Lamont, and reversed no less than three times in 2025 by the Appellate Court. I believe that sets a new record for most reversed Judge in the Constitution State. There is a website that tracks the reversal rate of CT Judges. This website didn’t track reversals in the year 2025, but in prior years there was not one Judge listed on the website who was reversed three times in one year. The website has reported that “Connecticut does not publish reversal rates, case disposition times, or other performance metrics by individual judge. While the Judicial Branch publishes aggregate statistics on caseloads and clearance rates, it has resisted calls to make judge-specific data public, citing concerns about “misinterpretation” and “unfair comparisons” in contrast to the CT Federal Court, and State Courts in New York and California, who are not as secretive and sensitive about “performance review.” The website also found that only 1% of complaints against CT Judges results in any form of discipline and asked: “These numbers raise obvious questions. Is Connecticut’s judiciary genuinely so exemplary that fewer than 1% of complaints over five years merit public discipline? Or is a system designed by judges, staffed partly by judges, and operating almost entirely in secret simply reluctant to discipline its own?”
Papastavros had powerful connections with the Republican Greek Klarides sisters, from the Valley, in the Hartford legislature. The Klarides sisters could best be described as the Kardashians of Connecticut. Their Greek paisan was never considered a legal scholar by the CT Bar. Hon. Papastavros was also from the Valley. My lawyer friends from New Haven were shocked when she was appointed to the Bench. The Connecticut Kardashians ▶lobbied for her before the CT Legislature, begging them to appoint her to the Bench. The Legislature and the Governor's Office are obviously running on autopilot. And where was the Hartford Courant?
In the case of Corie Gentile Riaz v. Samo Thraki, LLC, Papastavros dismissed a whistleblower lawsuit against Midway Pizza and its Greek owner Dimitrios Lenoudias. Papastavros ruled that the whistleblower, ie., Corie Gentile Riaz, had to first go through OSHA with her complaints before she could file a whistleblower complaint against the pizza joint. The Appellate Court reversed Papastavros and ruled that going through OSHA was a waste of time, as the Plaintiff already complained to the Health Department of the Town of Groton. Here is what the Plaintiff alleged about the pizza joint:
There is NO GREASE TRAP in the kitchen at all. They had it removed because it smelled terrible and it kept clogging, so now all the grease runs right into the sewer. There is NO HAND WASHING SINK in the front for us to be able to wash our hands. They had a sink in the front of the store behind the counter, but it was not connected to a water inlet nor did it have a drain connection. It was just a sink placed into the counter to appear as though it had proper running water with a bucket placed underneath to catch any liquid that anyone had poured down the drain. We have gloves, but we are told to only wear them when there is a customer in the building, when we are wearing the gloves they prefer that instead of changing them we use a rag to wipe/wash them. I get yelled at frequently because I refuse to use the same gloves over and over. I have actually gotten screamed at and lectured about how expensive one case of gloves are! I respond with, it’s a small price to pay to see to it that no one gets ill.There is a RAT/MOUSE PROBLEM! They have traps placed everywhere in the store. At night you can hear them running across the ceiling tiles due to having a drop ceiling. I have found oil bottles eaten into and instead of them throwing the oil away, they saved it by pouring it into another receptacle. I have found bags of spaghetti eaten into. Once more instead of throwing the spaghetti away, they just throw out the broken pieces or eaten pieces. Only once have they thrown the spaghetti away and that was only because I kept explaining how mice/rats carry diseases and GOD forbid if someone were to get sick.They have caught mice and have also caught rats. Whatever they catch they kill by either stepping on them or drowning them. Both the owner and his brother both smoke cigarettes which is fine, but NOT WHILE THEY’RE WORKING. The owner sits in one of the booths smoking cigarette after cigarette with a little cup of water just in case a customer walks in so that he can extinguish his cigarette. His brother also known as our “cook” SMOKES IN THE KITCHEN. Most days there are cigarette butts sitting on the counter tops. I have found ashes on the counters and I have even found cigarette ashes on one of the pizza’s I have pulled out of the walk in to sauce. There is a spot on the counter top next to the coffee machine to the left where they have taped a piece of foil to the counter so that if a customer walks in they can set the cigarette on the counter without burning the counter top and quickly take care of the customer. Inside of the dish bucket under the counter is a can filled with water to throw the lit cigarette butts in to also extinguish if the customers walk in. NO ONE WASHES THEIR HANDS AFTER SMOKING with the exception of Abigail Piktelis one of my co-workers. In the storage room there are coffee cups and souffle cups with water and cigarette butts in them cause the storage room is also used as a smoking area when the owners friends come through.I have witnessed the owner with his hand down his pants scratching his butt and balls not wash his hands then go to the front to greet customers and make their food! We were marked points for the shelves in the storage room not having stain/polyurethane and for the flooring and yet none of these things have even started to be corrected. There is NO PROPER MATTS for the floors in which we stand for long periods of time. I was informed on 3/11/22 that I was no longer allowed to change the bain [marie] containers nightly. I am only allowed to change them once a week now, which is disgusting due to all the grease that accumulates in them on a daily basis. At times they put frozen items on top of the oven to defrost instead of in the walk in because someone forgot to take something out the night before.The owner’s wife has a habit of eating the provolone cheese which wouldn’t be a problem if she didn’t take a bite then throw the remainder of the slice back into the container where the unused provolone sits.Nothing is ever dated or labeled to know how old it is. I continue to throw things away that either feel slimy, look discolored, or have a foul odor. I have witnessed the owner cut RAW CHICKEN, then use that same knife to cut cooked chicken.The owners brother drinks on the job and in doing so I believe that some foods don’t get cooked to the proper temperatures.Which I believe is why he microwaves all meats cooked in the fryer. I could continue on with more things wrong with the way that this business is ran, however I believe I’ve said more than enough at this point. As you can see from the reasons listed above there are serious safety health issues at stake here that should definitely be looked into and addressed. There are also issues of sexual harassment and hostile work environment which will be addressed to the proper channels. Thank you for your time and understanding.”
In the pizza joint case most reversed CT Judge Papastavros was presiding in the New London Courthouse after she had been transferred from the Judicial District of Waterbury where she was presiding over criminal trials. She didn’t last very long in Waterbury. After Papastavros was transferred to New London she was reversed in the sexual assault case of State v. William A. 234 Conn.App. 718 (2025) by the CT Appellate Court, in which Papastavros sentenced the defendant to ten years in prison. Papastavros allowed the New London prosecutors, most likely Olivia M. Hally and Chief New London State’s Attorney Paul Narducci, to comment on the defendant’s silence after being read his Miranda rights. The Defendant claimed prosecutorial misconduct. The Appellate Court agreed and reversed the conviction and ordered a new trial. A first-year law student knows that you don’t comment on the right of a defendant in a criminal trial to remain silent. These State’s attorneys are either complete idiots or just don’t care about the Constitution. Or they realized that there are virtually no adverse consequences if they trample all over the defendant’s rights, which in effect turns the Constitution State into the “Police State.” Win at all costs, to hell with the Constitution. It’s not clear from the Judicial website who actually prosecuted the defendant in this case, as the case file is sealed due to the age of the victim, and the Judiciary does not have any kind of policy to automatically redact public documents such as appellate briefs, which probably violates the First Amendment, but the CT Judiciary is mostly protected by Judicial immunity and can do whatever it wants. Although in the case of Civil Rights Corp v. LaSalle the Federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals ordered that the New York State Courts release certain documents under the First Amendment. Narducci probably prosecuted as he had the most seniority and is the chief of the District of New London, which begs the question why did a veteran State’s attorney commit such an “mistake” which resulted in a guy getting ten years in prison.
I worked for many years as a special public defender for the State of Connecticut. Everyone in the system complained about what the State’s Attorneys got away with and how convictions were rarely reversed. Yet nobody spoke out, out of fear of incurring the wrath of the criminal “justice” industrial complex.
In the contract case of Robin Bogda v. Brian Bochenek (2025), Judge Papastavros dismissed a case involving the breach of a settlement agreement. The Appellate Court reversed the dismissal and ordered Papastavros to reinstate the case. The Appellate Court found that Papastavros failed to “analyze significant language in the settlement agreement.” The Appellate Court found it odd that Papastavros conducted an analysis of the settlement agreement after Papastavros already found that the Plaintiff had no standing to sue. The case is currently on appeal before the CT Supreme Court.
Papastavros, a former Public Defender, started her Judicial career up in Waterbury doing criminal matters, then transferred to New London to handle civil and criminal matters, and recently transferred to New Haven, where I heard she is assigned easy civil matters. She recently handled a case involving the City of New Haven that got some press. It’s not clear why she got press coverage. She only handled the case for about two months, from what I can tell from the judicial website. She issued one decision where she cited a case decided by the great New Haven legal scholar Judge Jon Blue. Blue must have helped her write her decision, as they both have offices in the same building. Blue took over the case and issued additional orders which are currently on appeal. Blue didn’t get any press coverage. Blue is a humble Judge who has the nickname “the Brain,” which he shares with Arnold Rothstein.
Judge Papastavros brought a custody action against her own daughter in which she claimed custody of her granddaughter, ie., Papastavros v. Corbo FA25-6087948. Don’t try looking it up on the Judicial website; all traces of it have been removed after Papastavros either withdrew it in the middle of the proceedings or the Judge tossed it out. She had her attorney, Randolph Richardson III, send a threatening letter to her daughter before she commenced the action. I believe the Judge told her attorney it was improper for her to bring an ex parte request before the Court. Below are some of the text messages from the bitter divorce and recent custody attempt between Angelica and her ex-husband. Papastavros was never subject to discipline for bringing a case that appears to lack any kind of merit, from what I can tell.
